Thursday 29 December 2011

Kindle for Christmas?

Hello...... I am still on leave from blogging until the new year- no writing or reading is taking place at the moment. Just a quick reminder that if you got a kindle for Christmas try downloading Goa Traffic- its doing well in the charts and thank you America for buying copies!!!!

Click on the new cover to take you to the link on the right!!!!!

Seasons greetings everyone

..... For the new year- a new collaborative blog on art and writing and... watch this space for more writing news. I need to up my game this year!

Tuesday 20 December 2011

word of mouth...

I am giving myself a holiday from books and writing.... Just till the new year. Dont get me wrong I dont find it a chore (well marketing I do) I just need some time out. Before I sign off I must tell you that I had an impromptu book signing whilst in Goa. At Calangute's Capricorns from 5-8 last Friday we had drinks and canpes and I signed some books. The Goan Press were there and hopefully I will get some coverage. Not only was Goa a holiday but I now have books in Mandovi bookshop and Broadway in Panjim as well as soon be in the resort of Cidade de Goa. They will be in Fiesta (a great restaurant on the Tito's strip) and Emmanuels Beach Shack in Baga, also Bina Pujani's hair salon near the Marriott (near Cocoa Berry ) and Sachas shop in Panjim. All are great places to visit so if you are going on a trip take a look.

The recent reviews I have recieved for Goa Traffic from Complete unknowns have been the best Christmas present ever.

My one last request before I sign off for the holidays is that if you buy one book for your kindle this week buy this :
The author has written previous published books. Mary Cavanagh - I recently read the Crowded Bed and it was great. Try this book its only £2.99 or there abouts - go on....
I still dont have a kindle but want to get one on my PC so I can read it! I am currently reading Sophie Hannah - the otehr half lives and so far its good. I like her style and it is inspiring to read otehr psychological thrillers especially when I am writing one at the moment!
2012 is going to be big people watch this space...
Thank you again for all your support!

Friday 9 December 2011

If music be the food of love

...goaaaaaa okay so back on the food theme there is one more dish to share with you and that's caldene - almost like a green Thai curry very coconut based and made with prawns and okra - it's delicious but not on every menu- its very traditional - worth a try.

You may be able to tell that my heart is not in this blog-truth be told I'm tired....sorry bloggers

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Tis the season...

Its cold outside and you need a holiday- Have I mentioned that Goa is the place to be (book aside)? It is warm (weather wise) the people are genuine and friendly and the food is fantastic - if you like indian/Goan food. Maybe I shouldnt plug Goa so much because it is a little over-run by tourists but as it is my home I'm going to share a few things about the wonderful little state with you. 

Lets take food for instance - you have to try a goan curry - being coastal it has to be prawn or fish. The fish is abundant - Pomfret (very buttery texture), Tomaso (or red snapper), Kingfish, skate - this makes a good curry because the texture is such that it absorbs the curry and flavours the fish. The scale of hotness for a Goa Curry can vary from mild to hot but never too hot. It really depends on the chef. Goans love putting chilli in everything.  And why not- it adds flavours. Sometimes they put bimleys in the cury. They are small green fruit that are extremely sour - delicious they add a certain depth to the curry. 

A good accompanyment to Goan rice and curry is water pickle - which is raw mango in brine with chillis- slice it up and serve it with your meal - its pretty much perfect. Also you can get raw mango slice it up finely add some salt and chilli to the bown and put it in the fridge for a day or two - then use it with your food - it is nothing short of amazing- extremely sour but amazing. 

And what should you drink with this meal- A Lassi - a cool yoghurt drink with salt and sugar- it replenishes your salts and sugars but although I used to drink it when I was younger - now I find it too heavy. A better all day drink is a fresh lime soda. It it what it is - fresh lime, soda and either sugar, salt or both - again to replenish your salts and sugars when you are sitting in the heat all day. 

The food in Goa is amazing  and thats just the start... Caldene, ambotic, prawns with chilli and garlic, chicken cafreal - they are amazing dishes that must be tasted - and after that... you can read Goa Traffic on the beach under an umbrella sipping a tender coconut in its shell. what could be better. 

Friday 2 December 2011

An engaging love story that sweeps you into the vibrant landscape of Goa

An engaging love story that sweeps you into the vibrant landscape of Goa and the excitement of an exotic affair, Goa Traffic ends with a brutally callous betrayal and the bitter consequences of rash and naive choices.
Lisa Higgins takes a rare chance in her very ordered life and books a solo Christmas vacation to Goa where she meets Terrence and her life is forever changed. 

Ms. De Luna's sobering tale of very realistic events and the incredible build up of the love story makes the betrayal visceral and complete. It was my great pleasure to read this book.

Today I was feeling glum... so much work to do etc and as well as that I (being a little OCD) had to double check ,y contract with Authorhouse that I could re-publish - even though I have checked twice and called them about it. Anyway I did and them some kind soul ona social networking site suggested that Amazon may have an issue with having the same book on at the same price. They also pointed out that the new cover didnt show up for kindle and that that copy was linked into the Author house one- what a mess- maybe it is better not to try and self publish (joke- as they say if its easy everyone would do it and it wouldnt be worth having)

Being impatient I have just updated the edition- to edition 2- I am hoping this combats all teh changes. It is the second edition I suppose. My worry was that the reviews would come off- I dont know - lets wait and see.

The above quote is from a review  on amazon that I just happened to see- mid trying to chnage editions etc. (yes I like to multi task) .... new years resolutions - A new Website!!!!

Oh FYI - The new kindle edition is now available in Italy and Spain, france and denmark...... get christmas shopping!!!

Thursday 1 December 2011

Writing and Office cannot be combined...

"Writing and office cannot be reconciled, since writing has its center of gravity in depth, whereas the office is on the surface of life," - Kafka
So following my post the other day linking up to an article on Theatlantic .com I found an interesting article on When is a writer called a writer. Yes there was that same discussion about how anyone can be a writer these days with the birth of the e-book but there were two quotes that stood out at me. One was from Kafka- I still haven’t read any of his works yet I am ashamed to admit! But I have read Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami – I suppose it doesn’t count. Anyway I digress- back to the article. The first point as I ponder whether to start a career in life coaching is the following:
Kafka came to feel bogged down by the daily grind. "Writing and office cannot be reconciled, since writing has its center of gravity in depth, whereas the office is on the surface of life," he wrote to his fiancée in 1913. "So it goes up and down, and one is bound to be torn asunder in the process."
Very true. It is difficult to do both. Interesting never the less. Anotehr comment made by Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Brontë was working as a governess, miserable, and wrote in a letter, "I shall soon be 30 and I have done nothing yet." That was two years before Jane Eyre was published. Brontë was 31—she had Jenni beat by 17 years (or 164, depending on your count).  And in spite of the anxious determination of those who work to write, or the casual persistence of the Sunday writers, there is something "very liberating" in having yet to be discovered, Von Arbin Ahlander remarked. "Okay, you haven't gotten recognition. But at the same time, you don't have expectations."  
Both quotes quite relevant to my life at the moment and found on a day when I don’t know which way to go. Someone I know suggested that I just write as a hobby and then do the life coaching on the side. To work is a must… I have to continue with that.